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Spring snowstorm not unusual: forecaster

Young people take advantage of school cancellations due to the weather as they slide on Citadel Hill in Halifax in a Jan. 22, 2014 photo. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew Vaughan

HALIFAX - Although the calendar says it's spring, Atlantic Canada is not getting a reprieve from the winter weather.

In fact, a major snowstorm expected to hit Wednesday could be one of the strongest of the season, Environment Canada said on Sunday.

Meteorologist Jean-Marc Couturier said it's not unusual for the region to get a blast of winter in springtime. He said it's still "prime time" for storms to develop over the warm waters of the Gulf Stream, and this one could be significant.

"Definitely we'd still be looking at some potential storms along the Atlantic seaboard and throughout Atlantic Canada at this time of year. That is not certainly not unusual," said Couturier from Halifax.

"We're not sure at this point if it would be the strongest system... that we've seen this winter, but it will be one of the strongest for sure."

Special weather statements have been issued for all four Atlantic provinces and some eastern parts of Quebec.

Couturier said it's too early to predict snowfall amounts, but significant snow and strong winds are expected for the Maritimes before the storm heads to Newfoundland late Wednesday or early Thursday.

"Perhaps that could lead to a winter storm-type situation when it comes to issuing our warnings, or in some of the worst cases, blizzard warnings."

Environment Canada is urging people to monitoring the weather forecast in the coming days.